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ool financing and performance is hard to find and is fragile; but this fragility should not be misinterpreted. Even those involved in the debate who find little empirical connection between resources and outcome, however, are careful to qualify the implications of the finding. Adequate finance is more a necessary than a sufficient condition for good school performance. Some schools use resources effectively, and get a positive return for dollars invested; other schools don't. Because of the latter, when all schools are lumped together, the aggregate data show little positive relationship between spending and performance. The key, then, is to pair increasing resources, where needed, with more effective use of resources. The problem is that it is not easy to design and implement policies to improve school effectiveness and performance.

 

A heated debate is under way regarding the possibility of improving schools via reliance on school choice and vouchers. A complete discussion of that issue is beyond the scope of this article, but details of any school choice program will surely matter. Among other program design features is the fundamental question of whether choice is extended only to schools within the public system or whether private schools are included as well. If private schools are included, what standards should these schools meet in order to be admissible? What role will charter schools play in such a choice system? Perhaps most fundamentally, how big and how portable will the vouchers be? If a student moves from one public school to another, how much of the first school's budget follows her or him? If private vouchers are contemplated, should they be marginal contributions or set at a level to pay full educational cost for even the poorest student? If vouchers are large, should they be needs-based?

 

Many of these issues are explored in recent studies, especially a recent study of Milwaukee's choice experiment (Witte, 2000). While the study found some positive effects of Milwaukee's parental choice program, particularly in parent satisfaction with the educational environment and discipline, it was harder to find any robust effects of the choice program on school performance. Part of the problem may involve the small sample sizes and the fact that the assignment of students to various samples is not random. Other research on school performance suggests that carefully measuring the value added by schools, and tying resources to such performance, may have greater scope for improving schools.

 

In today's economy, post-secondary education is another critical determinant of economic and social development.

 

The current system of financing many state universities is in flux. In many states both public contributions and tuition are held at relatively low levels, with an ever-increasing role played by outside research grants and private donations. Such a financing system has pros and cons, but one problem is that it will favor the institutions that attract the bulk of the research funds over institutions with primarily instructi本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。